By Timilee Brown
THATCHER, Ariz— Eastern Arizona College’s Engineering Department hosted its 16th annual Engineering Day last week. The event was co-sponsored by Freeport McMoRan, The National Science Foundation, and the EAC STEM Club.
Several volunteers from Freeport, the EAC STEM Club, and the community spent the day mentoring students and running the competitions.
More than 215 students and teachers from 10 schools across Arizona and New Mexico attended, including Thatcher, Safford, Pima, Fort Thomas, Mt. Graham, Morenci, Duncan, Willcox, St. David, and Silver City. The winners of the competitions came from several different schools.
The K’Nex Bridge Contest tested the students’ abilities to work as a team, utilize a limited amount of resources they had to ‘purchase,’ and solve a problem within a limited time frame. Teams built a bridge that needed to support the largest load possible, while spending the least amount, using only K’Nex building materials. The first-place winners were Shaun Espinoza, Matthew Webb, and Keanna Cortez, from Morenci High School. The second-place team included Vincent Wright, Samson McGuire, and Hannah Hilton, from Duncan High School and Lincoln Palmer, from Thatcher High School. The third-place team included Payson Wright, Hunter Sellers, Cooper Udall, and Austin Haynie, from Thatcher High School.
The Egg Launch Competition involves launching an egg with a giant slingshot onto solid pavement. The primary objective is to construct a device that can protect the egg, with the secondary goal of constructing the most cost-effective device. The first-place winners are Wesley Pena, Matthew Orr, Thomas Zicarelli, and Teancum Despain, from Thatcher High School. The second-place team includes Vincent Wright, Samson McGuire, and Hannah Hilton, from Duncan High School and Lincoln Palmer, from Thatcher High School. The third-place team includes Terrance Brimhall, Jon Preston, Jay Cluff, and Gary Guy, from Pima High School.
The Water Rocket Contest involves launching a modified 2-liter bottle into the air using water pressure. The goal of this competition is to launch the rocket as high as possible while making an accurate landing. The winners of this year’s contest are Andrew Klores, Nathan Moore, Austin Stevens, and Cole Lambson, from Safford High School. The second-place team included Rachel Clark, Savanna Still, Brooklyn Sellers, and Savannah Bailey, from Thatcher High School. Members of the third-place team were Hunter Hayes, Tommy Hille, Kinsley Rapier, and Tanner Brown, from Duncan High School.
Back for the 2nd time was the Solvent Extraction and Electrowinning Event. This event was created and sponsored by Freeport and allowed students to extract copper using the solvent extraction and electrowinning process. The students were scored based on the amount of copper they produced in the time allotted. First place winners for this competition included Andrew Klores, Nathan Moore, Austin Stevens, and Cole Lambson, from Safford High School. Also from Safford, the second place team included Jared Garcia, Bryant Montoya, CJ Scrivner, and Derek Barringer-Smith. Members of the third-place team were Jadah Cortez, Diana Church, Israel Diaz, and Clint Sipes, from Morenci High School.
The grand champions and overall first place winners were Payson Wright, Hunter Sellers, Cooper Udall, and Austin Haynie, from Thatcher High School.
All prizes and awards were handed out to the winners at an assembly at the end of the day.
Eastern Arizona College offers an associate’s degree in engineering which is designed to transfer to almost any university. By taking classes at EAC, the tuition is significantly lower and the class sizes are much smaller. The program continues to grow thanks to Engineering Day and the great support of the community.
For information about next year’s EAC Engineering Day, contact the Mathematics/Engineering office at (928) 428-8255 or by email at timilee.brown@eac.edu.
